Funding Data

Funding Data

So how does funding work?

The provincial government provides post-secondary institutions with a block grant each year and a target number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) students for the institution to serve. Dividing the block grant by the number of students at an institution shows the targeted level of funding per student for each post-secondary institution.

 

Targeted Per Student Funding in BC

Per student funding based on the targets set by the provincial government. 

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Utilization Rates

The provincial government targeted $7800 per student for TRU in 2015/16. This places TRU in 16th out of 25 post-secondary institutions in BC for targeted per-student funding. However, not all institutions in BC meet these targets. The comparison of the actual number of FTEs at each institution relative to the target set by the provincial government is referred to as the utilization rate. In 2015/16 TRU had a utilization rate of over 100% while most other post-secondary institutions fell well below this. By taking into account this utilization rate to reflect the actual number of FTEs at each post-secondary institution in BC we can see a more accurate picture of how much government funding each institution receives per-student.

TRU actually ranks 20th out of 25 institutions in per-student funding. TRU currently receives approximately $1500 less in per-student funding than the average post-secondary institution in BC. Across the more than 8000 full time students at TRU this represents over $80 million of underfunding in the last 5 years alone. And as TRU continues to outperform provincial FTE targets the funding situation at TRU will only get worse.

 

Actual Per Student Funding in BC

Per-student funding based on the actual utilization rates of each institution in BC. 

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Why is public funding important?

For over 40 years Thompson Rivers University, and the Cariboo College before it, has been a vital part of the economic, social, and cultural landscape of our region. It has been integral to building Kamloops as a vibrant and diverse community, creating our identity as the tournament capital center, and attracting a wide range of businesses to call our community home.

“An economic impact analysis indicated that with only $65 million in annual government funding, TRU annually contributes an estimated $355 million to the regional economy and over $650 million to the provincial economy. This is a fivefold multiplier effect for our region and a tenfold multiplier effect for the province with each dollar invested in TRU.”
 

The prosperity of our community is reliant on us to ensure that TRU has the resources it needs to continue to provide a high quality education. Provincial funding needs to reflect how our institution has changed and grown over the last decade and how it will continue to change moving forward. Instead, the full social and economic benefits of our university have not been realized for over a decade.

 

Add Your Support!

Thousands of students, faculty, staff, and community members have already pledged their support for fair funding for TRU. Add your name now!

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